First self-googling attempt: pleasingly nothing came up for the most commonly used, and personal variant of my name (hurrah for my Fort-Knox-like facebook privacy settings!). Phew, no dodgy photos or malicious gossip. Embarrassing moments hidden from public view - Tick!
Second self-googling attempt: my full name and the addition of the keyword "Cambridge" brought up a wonderful, if brief, entry in the 2003 CULIB which I had never been aware of (chronicling my
Third self-googling attempt: using my online persona Lady Kenneth as the search term, my twitter account came as the fourth and fifth entries (after a car insurance company in the US, a Lady Gaga tribute video by some lovely chap named Kenneth and a preacher named Kenneth healing a lady) and this blog came fifth. Can't be too upset with that! However much I try, I don't think I will ever quite match Ms. Gaga's global popularity and relevance in any setting, professional or indeed sadly even personal.
I'm a great believer in anonymity on the web, personally it gives me the confidence to write honestly and with some humour, which I don't believe I could do under my actual name. My personal facebook account is completely locked down and hidden from view for exactly these reasons. I have only ever updated my facebook status a handful of times in the five years I have been a member as I just don't have the self-belief that others are/would be interested in the mundane details of my day.
I am the "admin" for the library facebook page and approach this by keeping the tone strictly professional and informative. Initially horrified at the idea of twitter, for I could not see why anyone would be interested in anything I was doing or reading, I have now completely fallen in love with it as an information dissemination tool. I chose to use my Lady Kenneth moniker to provide a semi-shield from view, but included a photo so that students knew that it was indeed a member of the library team. I think this works well as it is informal enough to converse with the students but the account's main purpose is to provide library/current affairs information. I have linked this blog and the twitter account by using an image from the library shelves as the wallpaper image and occasionally the same image is used as a profile pic on facebook.
I think I'm happy with my online brand but understand this may and probably will have to change as my career progresses.
Food for thought: I found this relevant post by a PPS alumnus, discussing the importance of recognising your cyber footprint and its possible implications for your future (or even current) career on his blog.
Thanks for the link to the cyber footprint blog.
ReplyDeleteRe facebook, after a few years I stopped following, or defriended students once they had graduated on my personal account since it is largely used for keeping in touch with extended family and friends. I try to keep twitter for professional use but do not set up feeds between accounts.
Yes it's good to see that EVERYONE should consider their online presence carefully and realise the impact it could possibly have personally and professionally. Good tips for the separation between your personal and professional accounts. I'm thinking of setting up a personal account on twitter fairly soon where I can be even more relaxed and informal than I am already!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and entertaining blog, good tips about separating personal and professional online brands
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